Mark 4:18-19 NLT
18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word
19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
Thorny, ugly weeds (worries of life), beautiful roses (the lure of wealth), or spine-filled trees (the pursuit of other things) crowd out the growth of good seed.
In preparing the soil, you remove any obstacle that would deter positive growth. Whatever doesn’t look like a carrot, lettuce, or tomato HAS TO GO!
Being anxious about life, elevating money to a god-like status, and being distracted by things will deter you from producing godly fruit.
Matthew 7:20 NLT
Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
Matthew 23:26 NLT
You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.
Romans 12:1-2 MSG
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
TIFAW.1
With God’s help, I embrace what God does for me. I fix my attention on God’s way of doing things. It brings the best out of me. I don’t worry.
Ephesians 4:20-24 MSG
But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.
TIFAW.2
Since I am alive in Jesus, I can put away my old ways. I live a God-fashioned life that produces God-focused character, working from the inside out. I serve Jesus.
Colossians 3:12-17 MSG
12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
TIFAW.3
Because I’ve chosen a life in Jesus, I respond to life’s challenges differently. The peace, the Word, and the directive of Jesus guide my life and have become the song of my life. I will not be distracted by things.
TIFAW
With God’s help, I embrace what God does for me. I fix my attention on God’s way of doing things. It brings the best out of me. I don’t worry.
Since I am alive in Jesus, I can put away my old ways. I live a God-fashioned life that produces God-focused character, working from the inside out. I serve Jesus.
Because I’ve chosen a life in Jesus, I respond to life’s challenges differently. The peace, the Word, and the directive of Jesus guide my life and have become the song of my life. I will not be distracted by things.